Speechwriting: Corporate, Weddings, Retirement

11/29/08

Regular readers know I post video variations of Amazing Grace. Some are well-known versions by Elvis or Mahalia Jackson. Lesser known versions, played on unusual instruments or by musicians unexpected to have a spiritual side.

However, as an aficionado of pizza, with a specialty in sausage pizza, I submit there is something important to match. Rarely properly married is pizza with pop.

Let's skip Domino's Pizza for a moment. Let that moment last forever. Clearly, if this is your choice, you have skipped past consideration of your palate. Move on. Nothing for you here. Take your insipid, limp cheap bread and sauce excuse of all that is good with you.

Instead, the cultured man's pizza is made with real meat, real tomatoes. I like deep dish, but that is still a regional pleasure, so I'll focus on a more national favorite. This is about a thin pie, crusty and crispy, wood oven baked if you can get it. It has a sweet marinara sauce just below a mozzarella skin mixed in with Italian sausage pieces -- genuine pork sausage with overtones of fennel coming right at you.

Which pop though you ask goes with this delightful cuisine? After many years of sampling, it is...

Pepsi. Not Diet Pepsi. The regular stuff. No after bite like any of Coke's cola products. Not too sweet, like a root beer with a vanilla tint, not too fruity like a Mountain Dew or Orange Crush. Dr. Pepper loses out because the cherry flavor crosses too close to the medicine line. RC Cola, though the flavor is acceptable, has a higher carbonation level. Too many bubbles.

Get in the Pepsi line.

What the diner wants is a pop with enough of an acid bite, and flavors that linger long enough, but never overtake the intensity of the next greasy bite. If he burps, and he will burp, there should be a residue of the meal's goodness coming through.

Most pop is acid-ready, but, combined with the flavor impact and carbonation levels, Pepsi is the one to open to put the fizzle in your za.

The trouble with money is the trouble with money. We need less than we think, we think we deserve more than we get, and everyone else's attitude about money is wrong.

Of course Alan Greenspan got it wrong. He never consulted me.

So there it is.

Which brings us around to politics. Who gets to have money, and who gets to have my money has become political. I don't care. That's Caesar's problem. Not mine. He can have what's his.

"...And all those who had believed were together and had all things in common; and they began selling their property and possessions and were sharing them with all, as anyone might have need. Day by day continuing with one mind in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they were taking their meals together with gladness and sincerity of heart, praising God and having favor with all the people And the Lord was adding to their number day by day those who were being saved."

Out of context, that's lovely. In context, it is a response to God, not Man.

Why bring any of this up? One friend has suddenly found herself on her own. Another has never really found her footing. One friend is finding his income similar to what he made 15 years ago. Another drives a bus and barely makes it month to month. In my home, we are doing better than ever, yet my day job's monthly income is lower. Long story explaining that one.

Back to the original question.

What's the problem with money?

Lordship. Not enough of that. Greed. Too much of that. Fear. That is something that is cast out by perfect love, yet we too often prefer fear over God.

Those who have money need, per Acts 2, share it wisely. Those who don't have money cannot presume they should be given money. Loans should be turned into gifts, but, as a receiver, we should try to repay that gift. Grace needs to abound on all sides, dignity must be encouraged.

11/23/08

I have several worlds. One is growing up, in Palos Heights, through high school. More or less, the same people surrounded me. Then, in Bloomington, IL, three miniworlds: one as a college student, one as it related to a woman I dated near the end of college, and then, post-college, post-relationship before heading to Wheaton, IL for grad school, also with several miniworlds.

Grad school at Wheaton College brought me students and church mates from across the globe, most of whom have returned. Next, my early work life and Church of the Resurrection/Church of the Great Shepherd friends. Toss in a mix of online friends, especially those relating to my Amazon.com reviewing adventures. Finally, now, at Wheaton Bible Church, my running community friends, and my Hungarian friends thanks to Aliz.

Why the list? Facebook. These worlds are colliding. They just don't know it.

Some are indirectly connecting on a group I began, What's Your Gas Price? Others just happen to read what's on my Wall.

Ran across one person who I long lost contact with, and saw pictures and was pleased life had turned out wonderfully. Connected with some grad school friends who I have wished I kept in touch with better, and likewise am pleased they found their way. A few, through me, were able to connect with others they hold dear.

This is a good thing. As I lay in bed this weekend, dreadfully bore down with a cold -- this lifts my heart.

11/21/08

The order of things is relative to what needs organizing, and for whom. I learned there is an order of things unexpected.

I joined Facebook, found a lot of old friends, and even started a group (join: What's Your Gas Price?). I joined several groups as well, dealing with running, poetry and general literature, and my college church group, Christian Collegians.

This post should feed into my Facebook page.

I fought this for years. Two dozen blogs, a dozen websites, jobs as full-time webmaster, and no Facebook page. I thought this was the realm of high kids and supposed 'grassroots' political campaigns. Yes, it is all that, but I am finding more sophisticated uses for it as well.

11/18/08

The cool wisping of flurried wind hit briskly this Tuesday morning. 22 degrees at 6:30 am when I left my home.

That leaves 33 degrees of separation between my present warmth and my preferred state. Kevin Bacon is nowhere to be found.

Christmas songs at the Chinese restaurant at lunch yesterday.

That is 38 days before Christmas. (And Kevin Bacon is not the one celebrated here, not in the most absurd of Nativity scenes.) Thinking about Christmas, knowing the usual cynical response to early holiday music, it occurred to me any reminder of Christmas is good.

The days are warmest at Christmas. Though there was once a million degrees of separation between God and Man, He reduced it to one, with an open hand calling us forward.

11/17/08

I spent much of Sunday at funeral activities for the father of a dear friend. First, an open house breakfast at their home, then a memorial service at the funeral home.

Two speakers eulogized their friend of 50 years, plus various family members.

Whatever can be said about other than vignettes and hyperbole? Are there any words that sum up a man's life? There are attempts to bridge this concern, but an hour -- two, three, five hours -- are never enough. The best speaker can only touch our hearts and remind us of some of what he was. For me, I only knew the man's daughter. He was 68, and she is now 45.

Death is not a metaphor. Something living is now not living. Whether spiritual or physical, death is absolute. I cannot raise the dead. I can only look upon the body and wonder.

11/14/08

I have found a great challenge to listen to classical music. I did not grow in a home which appreciated it. No piano lessons. No WFMT on the radio.

Sometime in high school I decided to be better rounded. A fan of classic folk rock at my core - Bob Dylan, Larry Norman, the Byrds, classical, I found, was another language. That's kind of how I feel about hip-hop music now.

Why listen to a voice contrary to my own? In this exact case, to enrich my sense of culture. I'd turn on the radio to classical station, buy music, and even attend concerts. I am a long way from being an expert, but I can say I like many aspects of the music.

As this began process to filter into other parts of my life, I learned to broaden my understanding of the world. I became a free speech advocate. Freely learn, and freely speak.

This is probably why I do not see life as political. It isn't. Truth is truth, and in whatever party it may reside, I want truth. I don't want truth wrapped in lies -- hence my recent frustration with the political verbiage that suggest more guns/war equal more peace, or that prochoice equals fewer abortions. While there can be such results, it is wrapped in aquiesence. I don't care who is in charge, so long as they know the truth, and live the truth. That's why I was glad to write this article for yesterday's Chicago Tribune. It is apolitical in its focus, despite the story being about a politician.

Fairness in freedom will frustrate a great many people. Acknowledge a firm belief, and some will leave you. Acknowledge the merit of the other, and say good-bye to everyone else.

In college, I organized a debate about abortion that was well-attended and civil. Why? I invited both sides to bring their best debator, and asked real, not leading, questions.

My friends who happen to be prolife cringed when I noted I was open to supporting a Democrat in the recent election. Yes, I even considered Barack Obama.

I was not voting for party, image, history, gender, race, religion. I was voting for what I believed in. I avoided talk radio, hyperbiased websites and media, and stayed clear of the bitter dialogical spite flung around. Dialectical discussion was hard to find.

Likewise, and sadly, with vitriol, my more liberally minded friends, claimed angst when I mentioned I would be voting for John McCain, who happens to also be a Democrat.

Statistics were bantered about, e-mails demonizing either were sent to me, and, in general, I sat alone. Dare say intrigue of a person's opponent, and mistrust began. They'll know we are Christians by our...(?)

Friends, I saw, in the best cases, were not ones in which agreement was found, but pursuit of truth, and declared it in love, and in humility.

Now, granted, the election was bigger than just the abortion issue, but it is easy to wrap a blog post around that.

A bigger picture issue, of course, is in what now? Elections are over, yet campaigning remains. Me? No campaigning because we have a president, and know who our next president is. Pray is due both, and I hope both grow in wisdom and knowledge of truth.

In the meanwhile, try a little classical music (samples of great pieces)

11/13/08

Some people will cheer January 20, 2013 as a day Barack Obama leaves office. I certainly will not mind, but that's just one man leaving a job. Maybe he will be reelected. Then, his supporters will cheer.

What is sad has nothing to with who is in office. It has to do with who is dying, and who, on that day, will barely be remembered.

Few will have seen any of their faces, or cried when they were buried.

January 20, 2013 happens to be a Sunday commemorating the legalizing of baby killing. I can't call it murder because the courts accept the grinding up of a baby girl while still inside the mother as legal. The baby girl has no rights, of course, given her confinement in the body of someone who doesn't want her.

Planned Parenthood's adage "Every child should be a wanted child," presumes it is more acceptable to apply saline solutions (very strong salty water) to the face of a baby girl who is not wanted than to birth her. At least, the are cool with supplying this ability to the mother.

Yes, yes, it is also the day Barack Obama's first term ends. And, of course, he is famously prochoice with no desire of removing the choice to violently kill unborn children. Yes, yes, some of his supporters somehow believe he will decrease abortions during his term. For all I know he might, and I hope so.

40 years will have passed since Roe v. Wade has passed. Two generations. Roe v Wade actually was decided January 22, 1973, but it is Sanctity of Human Life Sunday that particular January 20.

Who will be cheered? Probably not the fallen, but the elected.

Hanging her head in grief might be Norma McCorvey, aka "Jane Roe." who now regrets ever being responsible for such infamy. The choice is now not hers, but each mother who has the right: to kill or not to kill. That is the question.

Despite a strong expectation to vote for someone other than for a Republican for president, I never seriously considered McCain until the last few weeks, but my choices otherwise were weak.

Sure, Barack Obama won and had Illinois in his pocket since running essentially uncontested (technically against Alan Keyes who gave no legitimate fight), and he's soon my president, but his values re not my values. You might say I voted my conscience.

Roskam got my vote because he serves my area, and has done so well in both public and private life. See my recent Roskam story.

(I've deleted the video from posting here, not realizing local laws prohibit me from displaying my actual voter card. Further analysis is needed to find out if my video is OK, but at first glance, maybe not, so I'll remain safe.)

Barack Obama has been elected. On January 20, 2009, he becomes my president. None of this whining "he is not my president" garbage like I heard from anti-George Bush types. I respect the office, I respect the process, and I respect the voters' choice. Just because it was not my choice doesn't mean the freedom to vote has been lost or abducted. Iran misses this, as do many of the Islamic countries.

Naturally, Obama is now charged with dealing with this, and will do so with no excuses. Democrats control Congress.

Thankfully, we will now get a new senator in Illinois ready to actually work rather than campaign. Ideally, it will not be someone part of the corrupt Chicago machine, or the nepotistic Chicago culture.

While Obama fans claim fewer babies will be executed during his tenure, the reality is Obama is prochoice. Like the faulty argument than pro-war people are best set up to avoid war, a prochoice leader is not designed to stop abortions. Unlike war, abortion is never necessary. At best, it is a choice made to save the physical life of the mother, and always, there is death. Just the same, the situation is as it is, and we'll see how it turns out.

Regarding Iraq, terrorism, etc., Obama will soon be privy to knowledge only presidents have. Let's see if he resolves or hinders freedom, safety and defense concerns.

The sun rose today. God has not abdicated his throne. Nor has Obama assumed any throne. He is just a temporary president, and entrusted by the majority of Americans to lead our country. The ball is not in Obama's court anymore than it was in Bush's. Jesus Christ is the Lord of lords.

Be frustrated if that's what you are about, but do not lose yourself. Remember the things which are right, then do them.

11/4/08

Look around -- I'm young, educated, suburban and care about issues like the homeless. Most of my friends are voting for Barack Obama. In fact, peer pressure to vote for him has been tremendous. That said, I know others who are so pro-John McCain that they cringe when I suggest that Obama will not ruin our country.

So I voted for John McCain. My writer friends, most whom care more about the homeless than actually spend time with them, think I am unintelligent.

Tomorrow, I will look out the window. If the world is still there, I will go to work. If not, I'll stay home and drink coffee.

January 21, I will repeat the process, if, as one friend suggests, I am not dead. If I am dead, I regretfully will no longer be blogging, nor looking out windows.

So I voted for John McCain. He is not my first choice, nor my second. Possibly, he is my third, but, really, Barack Obama is not on my list. Even Hillary Clinton is higher on my list.

270 electoral votes needed to win, 527 undecided?Right. Poor old Barack is down in the first quarter, with John McCain up by five. The score is 8-3. The election is over, and was when I voted. Illinois' decisions were made long ago.

The upside is once Obama is run out of town, we can bring in a new senator, one committed to getting the job done.

And so, I voted for John McCain. Tomorrow, I'll be a tiny point in a million point spread, and next week, a minor, soon forgotten statistic for pollsters and analysts.

11/3/08

For marriages in trouble, and for those people who want to keep things out of trouble, "The Love Dare," is a great list of ideas. Nothing here will cause the reader to go "Wow! Brilliant!" because everything here is common sense. It might not feel natural, and some ideas will be difficult for the couple in strife. The majority of couples will find it useful in its practicality.

Why is it common sense? Try day one, for example,

"Resolve to demonstrate patience and to say nothing negative to your spouse at all. If the temptation arises, choose not to say anything. It's better to hold your tongue that to say something you'll regret."

Easier said than done, but worth doing just the same.

Either partner can apply the content solo. In fact, it is structured that way.

Forget the movie. I'm reviewing the book. I know, lots of reviewers loved it, but this book will last long after the film leaves the theater. While I liked the movie, all it does is serve as a stepping stone toward the much more difficult work. Get into "The Love Dare," apply its ideas, and, whether or not it delivers, you will know you have done the right thing.

The content is a quick read at first. Partially written in a script like handwriting font, it will flow easily on the eyes. Slow down, consider the depth of the ideas, and the creative applications, and the work begins. It is meant to be read over 40+ days, not scanned on the train to work.

A friend IMed me, and asked why I think voting for John McCain is counter-cultural. We didn't labor into who McCain is, but I replied as this (edited for context, clarity):

The culture clearly sways for the near future President Barack Obama, especially within my demographic (white suburban, educated male). I was dead set to not vote for a Republican, but hoped a better option than Barack Obama. My family, mostly, are hardcore liberal, hardcore Democrat. I'm hardly Republican, but I must look like it to them.

Some Obama fans see all who vote for Obama as enlightened, while all who are not are idiots. Broad-minded, are they, or as gullible as the "Obama is a Muslim" crowd?

Obama is a shoe-in for president, though, and I think Jesus' second coming will not be delayed as a result.

Reasons for voting for John McCain? NARAL's 100% approval rating of Obama was one (several years running), his economic solutions are another, and my belief that we need a strong military. The gay marriage thing? I'm not especially concerned. Much huffing by many Christian believers there, methinks, who want to connect a spiritual marriage with a civil one. The NARAL thing is big, and I am disappointed Obama has embraced a prochoice position so much.

Just the same, I do not think an Obama presidency will be there worst thing we endure, nor will McCain be a savior.

I'll be happiest when January 21st hits. No more signs, no more election, no more demonizing. We Christians, I think, too easily can forget the greater issue is not who is president, but who is Lord. We need to get down to the business of serving the right God.

I do think Obama is naive about doing all he wants, but naivete is not all bad. I see him as a kind of Mr Smith Goes to Washington. While I disagree with most of his position, I think he is sincere, and has integrity, and will work hard. I just do not want a man who has views so much in contradiction to mine.

I think Illinois will do well to get an active senator again, though. Obama could have done great things here, but chose to spend his best time campaigning. He is a hard working guy, but his attention has not been focused 100% on his day job.

I'm voting intentionally, knowing my choice will lose big.

I'll say something even less savory: I believe both Bill Clinton and Barack Obama when they claim Christ as their savior. Their claims are based on words I would have used myself, and 'love believes all things.' Romans 10:9-10 has no clause, "except for..." Really. Check it out.

Romans 10:9-10 is a bothersome verse, as it seems to include, not disclude, but in turn, lays down carefully that those who reject Christ are doing exactly that, rejecting Christ. 'Lord' means all others are second place, and there is no second place. We cannot conveniently accept some, and not others based on this. Truth is either truth or a lie. Never both.

"But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you"